Dental instrument



April 18,- 1950 J. v. RUBBA 2,504,227

, DENTAL INSTRUMENT Filed May 28, 1947 Suva/Mm J'osqvh M RuZZa,

Patented Apr. 18, 1950 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE DENTAL INSTRUMENT Joseph V. Rubba, Egg Harbor City, N. J. Application May 28, 1947, Serial No. 750,898

1 Claim. 1

My invention consists in new and useful improvements in a dental instrument primarily designed for the removal of bony splinters which frequently result from the extraction of a tooth.

I have found from experience that in most instances when a tooth is removed from its bony socket, the outer plate of bone is torn or sprung by the force required to remove the tooth and by the side-to-side movement which is necessary to loosen it. Such a bony socket may be a tooth socket in which socket-defining bone may be substantially intact after extraction of a tooth therefrom, or may be a socket which has been damaged, leaving a bone fragment detached or partially detached from the socket structure. If an injured or damaged socket part or fragment is permitted to remain in situ it is likely to eventually become necrotic and cause considerable pain and possible infection.

Heretofore, it has been the practice to undertake the removal of these fragments with various conventional instruments which have been designed for other purposes, with the result that the gum tissue has frequently been damaged. It is, therefore, the primary object of my invention to provide an improved dental instrument having an especially designed jaw adapted to slip between the gum tissue and the bony splinter or plate so as to firmly grip the splinter and remove the same without injury to the gum tissue.

With the above and other objects in view which will appear as the description proceeds, my invention consists in the novel features hereinafter described in detail, illustrated in the accompanying drawings and more particularly pointed out in the appended claim.

Referring to the drawings in which numerals of like character represent similar parts throughout the several views,

Figure l is a plan view showing one form of my improved dental instrument having relatively straight jaws;

Figure 2 is an enlarged perspective view of a modified form of jaw;

Figure 3 is a view in side elevation of the jaw shown in Figure 2;

Figure 4 is a sectional detail taken on line 4-4 of Figure 1, showing the relative shapes of the two jaw members in transverse section; and

Figure 5 shows a further modification wherein the jaw structure is designed with angularly disposed beaks.

In the drawings, l and 2 represent a pair of crossed handle members fulcrumed at 3 in the conventional manner. The handles are preferably provided with a spring strip 4 rigidly secured to the inner face of one handle as at 5, slidably engaging the inner face of the opposite handle under sprin tension to normally .urge said handles apart. The free end of said spring strip may be provided with a suitable roller as shown at G to facilitate the manipulation of said handles.

The jaw structure consists of two jaw members I and 8 integral with the crossed handlesl and 2 respectively and are particularly designed to afford access to a bony splinter resulting from a tooth extraction. The jaw 7 is gradually tapered toward its free end to form a flat relatively thin beak 9, preferably smoothly rounded at its longitudinal extremity in the general plane of the beak to eliminate sharp corners. The opposite jaw member 8, on the contrary, is relatively thick throughout its length and terminates in an enlarged bone engaging head In. As will best be seen from Figures 2 and 4 which illustrate the head In in perspective and transverse sections respectively, this member tapers from a thickened shoulder H to a thin rounded edge at its outer extremity, its inwardly presented surface being longitudinally and transversely concaved or cup-shaped as at [2 to provide a bone engaging face. By this cup-shaped or dished structure the inner face of the head In is bounded by a lip which in cooperation with the corresponding face of the flat, thin jaw 9 afiords a highly practical and effective bone receiving pocket and gripping element.

As shown in Figures 3 and 5 the particular shape and angle of the jaws and beaks may be varied to meet particular conditions. The jaws of the instrument illustrated in Figure 3 are curved with respect to both the vertical and horizontal planes, while in Figure 5 the beaks I2 and [3 are abruptly turned at substantially right angles to the horizontal plane. Obviously many different jaw shapes may be employed in instruments embodying my invention and the beaks set at various angles to enable the operator to work in a more favorable position and to improve access to the socket walls in any position in the mouth.

In the use of my improved dental instrument for the removal of a bony splinter resulting from a tooth extraction, the particular shaped embodiment is selected and the thin, fiat jaw member 9 (Fig. 1) or I3 (Fig. 5) as the case may be, is inserted in the space between the gum tissue and the splinter or particle of fractured bone, the cup-shaped head It being inserted within the socket of the extracted tooth. By properly adjusting the position of the jaws a firm grip may be obtained on the bony splinter and the same is efficiently removed without damage to the gum tissue. The instrument may also be used in smoothing the edges of the socket wall.

From the foregoing it is believed that the objects, advantages, and operation of my improved dental instrument will be readily understood by those skilled in the art without further description, it being borne in mind that numerous changes may be made in the details of construction without departing from the spirit of the invention as set forth in the appended claim.

I claim:

An instrument for removing bone fragments from a bony tooth socket after extraction of the tooth therefrom, comprising a pair of pivoted members, and complementary jaws carried respectively by said members, one of said jaws having a thin beak with an outer end smoothly rounded in the general plane of the beak, said thin beak being insertable between a bone fragment and the adjacent gum tissue, said thin beak being flat on its inner face and being slightly tapered in thickness towards its outer end, where it is thinnest, to facilitate insertion of said beak between said gum tissue and said bone fragment and the separation of said bone fragment from said gum tissue, the other of said jaws having a beak which is relatively thick as compared to the opposing thin beak, the surface of said relatively thick beak facing said thin beak being dished concavely both longitudinally and transversely to form a bone-receiving recess bounded along two edges and. its outer end by a thin lip cooperable with said thin beak to'form conjointly therewith a pocket for holding and removing said bone fragment.

JOSEPH V. RUBBA.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this (patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 165,808 Durham July 20, 1875 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 674,608 Germany Apr. 18, 1939 

